


Rage

by yeaka



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Anti-Form Sora, Ficlet, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Rage-form Sora
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-31 10:43:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17847941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: Riku takes care of Sora’s altered form.





	Rage

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Kingdom Hearts or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

“I don’t understand,” she mutters, staring off towards the stairwell. Sora’s up there somewhere—Riku can _feel_ it. Kairi probably can too. But he moves faster than them now, and if he wants to stay hidden, he will. Riku watches her shoulders slump as that sinks in. The second landing’s throwing shadows down the vinyl stairs, providing Sora’s cover. It’s getting late. Riku’s _tired_ , having spent all day dealing with this, but he can’t retire yet. Kairi could. He told her to go to bed already. He said he could handle it. Obviously, she doesn’t think so. 

She looks at Riku and tells him emphatically, “I saved him last time. He changed back when I called him.”

Riku nods, because he wasn’t there exactly, but he still _knows_. They’ve told him every detail that he missed while he was busy being _bad_. He tries to explain to her, “He doesn’t need saving this time. It’s different.”

Kairi rolls her eyes. “It’s not different.”

“It is. Trust me.” No one understands dark forms like Riku does, and if he really thought Sora was lost to that, he’d be up in arms too. He understands why Kairi’s so upset, but he tries to reassure her, “He chose this, Kairi. It’s lasting a little longer than it should, but it’s alright. He’s still in there. And he’ll turn back on his own.”

Kairi sighs. Her trim figure wilts. “If I could just hold him...”

“He doesn’t want to hurt you. He can tell that you’re upset, and that’s why he’s avoiding us.”

It’s clear that Kairi doesn’t think so. Her lips purse, but she shakes her head, and she doesn’t fight him any more. Instead, she turns towards the door. He figured that she already had a plan of action, since she’s still dressed to go out—she hasn’t even taken her shoes off from when she came home about an hour ago. Riku’s sprawled across the couch without any intention of going anywhere. His granola bar’s left on his lap, still half inside the wrapper, his book forgotten on the cushion next to him. He was perfectly ready to sit and do nothing all day but take care of the creature Sora’s become, but Kairi’s been a distraction since she finished shopping with Naminé. Riku has to remind himself that it’s not her fault. She trained away from them—she hasn’t seen Sora fight like Riku has. She doesn’t know how versatile Sora is, how wild and resilient. 

She says, “I’m going to go talk to Merlin about it.” 

That won’t help at all. If Merlin does know anything about those sorts of form changes, he’ll just tell her what Riku already knows: there’s nothing to do but wait it out. But it’s clear she’ll have to hear it for herself, so Riku says, “Okay. Be careful.”

She nods. She can summon her own keyblade now—she can handle herself outside after dark. And not just on the largest island in the Destiny cluster. She can fly off to Twilight Town and still be alright—Riku has no doubt of that. 

She leaves without another word, drawing the front door soundly shut behind her. Riku’s left in the relative silence of their living room, mostly in the dark, just the one lantern sitting on the side table and the porch light on outside the window. A part of him just wants to seize the peace and drift off to sleep, but he wants to be awake just in case Sora needs him. 

He calls out, “She’s gone now.” And sure enough, he hears the quiet rush of footsteps. A black blur streaks past his peripherals. Then _Sora’s_ squatting on the couch, or at least, a form of Sora. 

The eyes are different. They glow an iridescent red instead of the gold they used to shimmer, blue when they’re _right_. The silhouette’s familiar, but there are little differences—a wider, jagged mouth and long, curled fingers. Darkness billows up like smoke in strange places, and Riku can detect the faint smell of ash, as though Sora’s all burned up and this is just what’s left of him. Riku can still sense _Sora_ in there. He’d know Sora anywhere.

Almost tentative, like an animal unsure of a friend or foe, Sora creeps a centimeter closer. His bright eyes squint, his lips parting for a jet-black tongue to slip out and lick them. Riku gets the message—he hasn’t fed Sora since lunch. A granola bar isn’t much, but it’s something. He peels back the wrapper and lifts it up, letting Sora bite it right out of his hands. Sora doesn’t even try to take the bar for himself. He contentedly eats from Riku’s open palm. His textured tongue tickles whenever it catches Riku’s skin. Sora even licks up the crumbs afterwards. Riku softly asks him, “Do you want more, Sora?”

Sora doesn’t answer. He opens wide and lets out a noise that sounds somewhere between a languid yawn and feral roar. Then he stretches forward, hands falling to the cushion on Riku’s other side. He climbs over Riku like a cat, then abruptly collapses there, fretting and twitching a few times before curling up into the right position. Nestled against Riku’s stomach, Sora lets his eyes fall half closed. Riku can’t make out his lashes or lids—only that the light’s dimming. Riku reaches down to thread into Sora’s spiky hair. When he strokes back behind Sora’s ear, Sora makes a rumbling purr that almost sounds like a growl. Riku repeats the action, petting Sora absently while he retrieves his book. 

He pets Sora for some time. Sora seems to appreciate it—he stays in Riku’s lap, where Riku can keep watch over him. But it’s late and Riku’s tired, and he soon drifts off.

* * *

When Riku stirs again, his first thought is: _shit_. He curses himself for letting Sora down, for nodding off on duty, but his quickened pulse settles down again when he notes the weight that’s on his thighs—Sora’s still sleeping peacefully on top of him. Riku rubs his eyes and takes it in. 

He immediately knows what woken him—he can hear the front door opening, and a moment later, Kairi and Merlin come shuffling in. There’s no need. 

Sora’s back to normal. His clothes have grown their whites and reds again, his hair its usual vivid brown. Sora’s eyes are closed, his thick lashes heavy on his cheek, but Riku has no doubt that his irises are back to blue without the pulsing glow. He’s even snoring softly, as only Sora would. Kairi lets out a tiny, “Oh.”

“You see?” Riku notes, “I know him.” He knows Sora better than anyone. While Kairi apologizes to Merlin and walks him back outside, Riku scoops Sora up into his arms. Sora just keeps dreaming. Riku carries him up to bed, then climbs in too to try and share those dreams.


End file.
